Stacker



Jan. 2, 1962 FIEHL 3,015,487

STACKER Filed June 24, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 SECONDARY CARD FEED FIG. 5 INVENTOR MICHAEL F IEHL BY 77 m 4%;;

ATTORNEY Jan. 2, 1962 M. FIEHL 3,015,487

STACKER Filed June 24, 1959 5 Sheets$heet 2 FIG. 2

Jan. 2, 1962 M. FIEHL 3,015,487

STACKER Filed June 24, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 3

United States Patent 1 3,015,4s7 STACKER Michael Fiehl, Vestal, N.Y., assignor to International This invention relates to a stacker, and, in particular, to a radial type stacker for use in collators that is capable of intermixing a standard business record keeping card with a shorter business record keeping card.

Generally, in a collator, secondary or detail cards are matched with primary or master cards. Initially, the secondary cards are in one hopper, and the primary cards are in another hopper. The cards are removed from these hoppers generally with the primary or master card going first and the group of secondary cards that match the primary cards then being fed into the pocket where the primary card was deposited. If there are no detail cards to go with a primary card, then the primary card is deposited in a diiferent pocket. Also, if there are no primary cards to go along wtih the secondary or detail cards, the detail cards are then delivered to another different pocket. Appropriate comparing circuits are generally provided to determine whether there are matching cards to go along with the other cards. Therefore, when the cards are matched appropriate magnets are energized to direct the primary and secondary cards into the proper pocket. Also, circuitry is generally used to tell when the secondary cards have been collated with a primary card so as to direct the next primary card feed to feed another master or primary card.

Now, in collators it is common practice to feed both secondary and primary cards in one direction with the primary card feed having a means for feeding the master card slightly sooner than the secondary card feedwhen both the detail and primary card are fed simultaneously.

.In that manner the primary or master card will reach the merge or intermix pocket before the secondary card does.

It is also common practice to feed primary cardsin the opposite direction to secondary cards. In such an arrangement, the cards are fed in substantially the same manner with the feed rolls for the primary card feed operating slightly faster than those for the secondary card feed so that the primary card will be deposited in the pocket sooner than the secondary cards even though the cards are picked simultaneously,

With the increase in speed of card feeding in connection with collators and the like, more cards can be handled and delivered to the pockets. Therefore, in order to handle more cards, the drop stacker has been replaced by a radial stacker. In the drop stacker, the cards merely fall freely on their flat side directly below the card feed path. A biased support is provided so that as more cards enter the pocket, the support is moved downwardly so as to receive more cards. However, such an arrangement is limited as to the number of cards that it can accommodate based on the depth of the particular pocket; In a radial stacker, the cards are fed up to the pocket and dropped at right angles to the path of motion of the cards with one end being held while the other end drops. The cards are then stacked on their edge and move away from underneath the card path.

Such an arrangement makes the cards more accessible and enables the operator to remove the cards from the pork ets while the machine is still in operation. However, with the drop stacker, the machine would have to be turned off in order to remove the cards.

In the drop stacker, standard size business record keep- '2 ing cards (SO-column) can be fed into thepockets with shorter type business recordkeeping cards (Si-column) since the cards merely fall flat side first on top of the other cards which areilying on their flat side. The card does not have an opportunity to turn on itsedge or to flip over on its other side. However, in the radial stacker where one edge is held while the other end drops radially, all control over theshorter card is lost. This is due to the fact that thecards are generally fed in the center of the path so as to be aligned with the picker knives as the card is removed from the hopper. Therefore, when a card reaches a pocket which has been selected, the edge of the card is not at the edge of the pocket. In other words, the edge of the smaller card cannot be held in the same manner that the standard card.(-column card) can be held. in other words, one edge of the card cannot be retarded while the other one drops freely. If the card does not fall properly, the card will jam the machine.

Also, the adjacent stackers have common walls for separating them. These Walls must not have any protrusions that form obstructions to the freely falling cards. It, therefore, is difiicult to provide adjustable mechanism between the pockets.

It is therefore-an object of this invention to provide a pocket of the radial stacker type which is capable of intermixing a standard business record keeping card with a smaller record keeping business card.

It is another object of this invention to provide. a collator having radial stacker type pockets, which pockets are capable of accommodating standard size cards for both the secondary and primary feeds, or capable of accommodating standard size cardsfrom one feed and a shorter card from the other feed.

Briefly stated and in accordance with one aspect of this invention, a collator is provided which is capable of intermixing standard size business record keeping cards with smaller businessrecord keeping cards from separate feeds, or intermixing of standard size cards-from separate feeds, or intermixing of smallercardsfrom two separate feeds by providing a means between thepockets for temporarily detaining in the pocket the primary'card,

which is the standard card, until all of thecards'of the detail cards in a group that match the primary card have been delivered to the pocket.

The'foregoing and other :objects, features and-advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a collator to which the invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a view taken on lines 2 .2 ofFIG 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan View oftheradial stacker takenon lines 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is another embodiment showing a portion. of the radial stacker.

FIG. 5 is another embodiment showing a different -means' for temporarily arresting the primary-cards.

determining the pocket the primary card should be delivered to. Also, the brushes can be used to determine whether or not a primary card has detail cards to match it. If there are no detail cards to match the primary card, then the primary card will be delivered to one pocket whereas if the primary card is matched it will be delivered to another pocket. Retaining means 24 is provided to retain the card in that particular location until a signal is received to continue feeding that card. A magnet is shown at 26 provided with an armature 28 which co-operates with a lever 30 so as to engage a hook 32. If the primary card is unmatched, the magnet is energized and the armature 28 is released from the hook 32 so that a spring 34 can pivot the lever 39 so as to actuate a chute blade 36 into the path of the card. The chute blade 36 is connected to the primary pocket 38. If the primary card is matched, the magnet 26 is not energized and the armature will remain in engagement with the lever 30, so that the primary card will pass over the chute blade 36 and under the chute blade 37 into an intermix or merge pocket 40.

In order to feed secondary cards from the hopper 14, a picker knife assembly 42 is provided. The cards are fed through feed rolls 44 past sensing brushes 46. These sensing brushes perform somewhat the same function as the sensing brushes 22 in that, by the various openings in the card, the sensing brushes make contact with a contact roll to determine when the last of a group of detail cards that matches a primary card has been fed from the hopper. The brushes then provide an impulse to permit the next primary card to pass the sensing brushes 22. A magnet 50 provided with an armature 52 engages the lever 54 at a hook 56. If the secondary card does not match a primary card, the magnet 50 is energized, and the armature 52 releases from the hook 56 to permit the spring 58 to actuate the lever 54 to move the chute blade 60 into the path of the secondary card. When this happens the secondary card moves into pocket 62. However, if the secondary card is matched by a primary card, the magnet 50 remains de-energized and the armature 52 engages the hook 56 to keep the chute blade 60 out of the path of the secondary card so that it will pass into the intermix or merge pocket 40. A set of feed rolls 61 is positioned just ahead of each of the pockets 38, 40 and 62 to assist the cards into the pockets.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2 which shows the details of my invention as incorporated in a radial stacker. This invention has particular application to the radial type stacker pocket as opposed to the gravity or drop type stacker. In the drop type stacker, cards are fed into the pockets and fall, more or less, freely and stack on their flat side. In the radial type stacker shown, the cards first drop flatwise in the pocket 40. One edge of the card strikes a card arresting support member 66 to temporarily retain one edge from falling freely. While this happens the other edge of the card continues to drop and follows the glide plate member 68 so as to rotate. The guide plate member 68 extends transversely of the pocket 18 and is contoured to provide a guide path extending generally downwardly into the retainer or pocket. This permits the cards to be turned and then dropped edgewise from the support or arresting support member 66. When the cards reach the bottom of the guide plate member 68 at 70 a stepped card pusher is provided to assist moving the card on its edge. The stepped card pusher is mounted on a support block 74 which is in turn mounted on a slide 76. The slide 76 is reciprocated to and fro on a track guide 78. A bracket 80 is fixedly mounted on the slide and is biased by a spring 82 connected to the frame of the pocket 40. A bracket 83 on the bracket 80 is provided with a follower 84 which is actuated by cam 86. Therefore, as the cam rotates, the follower 84 and'bracket 80 are reciprocated along with the slide 76. Since the support block and step card pusher are carried by the slide 76, they also in turn reciprocate.

This reciprocating motion guides the cards forwardly until they drop ofi the stepped card pusher 72. When this occurs the upper edge of the cards drop ofi the card arresting support member 66 and fall onto a pivotable flipper 88. The flipper 88 controls the upper edge of the cards to help guide the cards so as to be stacked properly on the wire retainer 99. The retainer 90 is slidably supported so that it can support the stack. As the number of cards being supported is increased, the retainer 90 will move outwardly. The retainer 98 is spring-biased so that upon removal of the cards a spring 92 will automatically return the retainer to the position shown for receiving additional cards.

Now, the purpose of the curved or contoured guide member 68, the card arresting support member 66, the flipper 88 and the stepped card pusher '72 along with the spring-biased retainer 9% is to co-operate to prevent card jams in the pocket. This is extremely important during high speed card feeding since free falling of the cards must be controlled, yet not obstruct the free falling of the cards. Therefore, if a smaller card than the normal standard card is used, the same guide means for the standard card (SO-column card) would not satisfactorily guide and control the free falling of the smaller card (5 l-column card). This can result in a card jam.

Furthermore, when feeding cards of a standard size from one of the hoppers 14 the picker knives are adjusted to operate at equally spaced positions on the marginal edge of a standard size card. The picker knives would remain at the spaced positions for the feeding of smaller secondary cards in the hopper 14. Therefore, if secondary cards of a smaller size are to be merged with a larger standard size card from hopper 10, the picker knife must still engage the smaller card at equally spaced positions. Therefore, the'smaller card (which for purposes of describing this invention has been chosen as the secondary card although the primary card could be the smaller) is generally positioned at the center of the hopper by providing removable side plates (not shown) in the hopper. Therefore, when the smaller card reaches the pocket the card arresting support member 66 provided for the standard size card (SO-column card) will not extend sufliciently to engage a smaller sized card (Si-column card). Normally, the uncontrolled falling of the smaller card will jam the stacker. Therefore, means is provided for temporarily arresting the falling of the 80-column card, which is the standard type business card. By temporarily arresting the master card, the smaller cards then may drop flat side first on the master card as it would normally do in the drop stacker type of pockets.

In order to provide a temporary arresting means, a recess 94 (FIG. 3) is provided in each side 96 of the pocket 40. A flexible elongated member 93 is fastened at one end 100 in the recess, by spot welding or the'like; the other end 162 being free to move. The flexible elongated members 98 normally rest in the recess 94 so as to provide a smooth surface on the inner side of the pocket so as not to obstruct the free falling of the cards. The ends 102 of the arresting member 98 contain a pin or the like 164 extending therethrough. The arresting members 98 are normally spring-biased to their fully elongated position by a spring 106 connected to the pin 104 and to a pin 103 (FIG. 2) in the frame of the pocket '40.

In order to flex the elongated arresting members 98, an armature 110, containing a flared-out portion 112 (FIG. 3) so as to engage the pin 104, is provided. The armature normally permits the elongated arresting members to be extended and not flexed. The armature 118 is pivotably mounted on a magnet 114 and is normally out of engagement with the magnet by the action of spring 116 when the magnet is de-energized. When the magnet is energized the armature 110 will be attracted to the magnet so as to pivot the armature and actuate the pin 104 inwardly toward the pocket so as to flex the elongated arresting members 98 as shown in FIG. 3.

It is therefore seen that when the magnet is energized the elongated arresting members are flexed so as to protrude into the pocket 40. This occurs when ..a standard size (80-column card) primary card is fdeliveredlfrom the primary hopper 10. When .flexed the .arrestingmembers will temporarily support the standard primary card.

Thereafter, the group of smaller secondary cards will cards has been delivered to the merge .pocket 40.appropriate electrical circuitry (not shown) willprovide asignal to the magnet 114 so as to de-energize it. .The spring 106 and the inherent resiliency of the arrestingnmember will straighten the elongated arresting members .98 so that they nest in the sides of the pocket .40. Thiswill then permit the standard'primary card (80-column .card). and the matching smaller secondary cards (SI-column cards) to then fall together. This group of cards will then pass through the radialstacker in thesamemanner as the standard card by itself and will then bestackedon the biased retainer 90. Again through appropriate circuitry, the sensing brushes 46 will indicate when the next primary card should be delivered to the merge pocket, provided, however, that there is a secondary card or a group of secondary cards to match this primary card. .If. the secondary or detail "cards do not'match the primary'card, then the secondary cards Will be retained and the primary card will be delivered to thepocket 38 through the actuation of magnet 26 and the chute blade 36. Also, if there are no primary cards for the secondary or detail cards, then they will go directly to the pocket 62 by energizing the magnet 50 and actuating chute blade 60. However, if there are secondary detail cards to match the primary cards, then the primary card will be delivered to the pocket 40, the magnet 114 being energized prior to the arrival of the primary standard card at the merge pocket 40. The energized magnet will actuate the armature 110 to flex the elongated arresting members 98 so that they extend into the path of the primary standard size card so as to temporarily arrest it. The secondary cards will then be delivered to fall flat side first upon the standard cards.

Another embodiment of the invention is found in FIG. 4 where an arrangement is shown to temporarily arrest the next primary card while the prior primary card and secondary cards have an opportunity to fall through the pocket. In some systems the time for de-energizing the magnet 114 and for the actuation of the spring 106 to permit the flexed arresting members to fully'extend to their elongated position so as to dump the cards and the time necessary to again flex the arresting members may be so long that the next primary card may be entering the pocket While the previous collated cards are just beginning to fall. Accordingly, the new primary card may fall with the rest of the previous collated cards. Therefore, to temporarily arrest the falling of the next primary card, an armature 118 is provided which is bent over so as to extend into the pocket 40 through the contoured guide plate 68 into the path of the falling cards. During the time that the next primary card is arrested, the previous group of collated cards will fall and the arresting members 98 will be flexed. In order to actuate the armature 118, another magnet 120 is provided. Appropriate circuitry can be provided which will de-energize the magnet 120 and thereafter energize the magnet 114 so that the primary card supported on the armature 118 will fall onto the flexed arresting members 98. Thereafter, when the group of matching secondary cards have fallen onto the top of the standard card, the magnet 120 will be energized to actuate the armature 118 to catch the next primary card. This process will be continued until all of the cards have been collated.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5 which shows another embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the springs 136 are used to actuate the arresting members into the path of. the card as opposed to FIG. 2 in which the .springsl06 straighten the arresting membersso that they lare out of the path of .the cards. .Also, inFIG. 5, the

magnets 114 are used to actuate the arresting members out of thepath of thecards, While in FIG. 2, the magnets L114 .aotuatethe arrestingmembers into the path of the .cards. The advantage in reversing the functions of the .springsand magnets tothat shown inFIG. 5. is to be able .to releaseor dump the temporarily arrested cards by merely pulsing. the magnets.

Otherwise, as in FIG. 2, the magnets would have to beenergized .duringthecomplete time the cards are temporarily arrested and the matched secondary cards are merged. Of course, the preferred arrangement of FIG. 2vcould be made to operate in the sarnemanner by attaching spring 106 to theguide plate member 68. V

.In order to hold the arresting finger members out of the path of the cards without energizing the magnets 114, a releasable locking means'in ther'orm of aspring- .biased'linkage arrangement is provided. 'The springbiasedlinkage includes'a camming member 132 adapted to'be rotated to act .on bell crank levers 134-when itis .desired to merge smaller cards with larger standard cards. 'In the positionshown, .the cam 132 permits the arresting finger members 130 to be retracted without relying on the .magnets 114 when not merging-shorter cards. 'Inorder to do this, spring136 connected to the frame of the pocket acts on one partof the bell crank lever 134, while,spring 138 is connected to the other part of the bell crank and to the armature 140. Since spring 136 is stronger than spring 138, the end 142 of the bell crank lever 134 will be biased to releasably lock the armature 140 in the position shown. It is noted that armature 140 and arresting fingers 130 are integral and are pivoted on pin 144. The merge pocket 4i) is set to accommodate standard cards only.

In order to merge standard and smaller size cards, the cam 132 is rotated to the dotted line position. The cam rotates the bell crank lever 134 (shown partially dotted) to raise the end 142 from the armature 140. Since armature 140 is connected to the bell crank lever by spring 138, the armature will follow the bell crank lever so that an air gap will be provided between the armature 140 and magnet 114. Also, the arresting fingers 130 will extend into the path of the cards as a result of the action of spring 138. After a group of secondary smaller cards have been merged with a primary card, the magnet 114 will be pulsed to close the air gap and thereby pivot the armature about the pin 144 so that the fingers 130 will be out of the path of the cards. The temporarily arrested group of cards will then be dumped into the stacker.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A stacker for receiving business record cards, means for temporarily arresting one edge of the card while the other edge falls freely so that the cards that are received in the stacker can be stacked on their edge, means for stacking standard and shorter column cards, the means including card arresting means to temporarily support the standard card which standard size card then forms a support for the shorter cards, means for releasing the arresting means to permit Lhe standard size card and the shorter size cards to fall together to be stacked on their edge to prevent the shorter sized cards from falling uncontrolled to cause a card jam.

2. A stacker for merging standard business cards with shorter business cards, card arresting means in the stacker to temporarily support the standard card so that it can form a support for the shorter cards, lock means for making the card arresting means inoperative so that only '3 standard cards can be handled by the stacker, and releas- Ing means for the lock means to make the card arresting means operableyto handle standard business cards and shorter business cards.

3. A stacking device for receiving forms of different size, comprising means for temporarily supporting one edge of a form while the other edge normally descends freely in an are for stacking on edge, arresting means for arresting the descent of large forms to cause the large forms in turn to arrest the descent of and support subsequent smaller forms, and means for rendering the arresting means ineifective thereby to cause the large forms and any smaller forms then supported thereon to descend in unison in a controlled manner for edgewise stacking.

4. The combination according to claim 3, wherein the forms are stackable on edge in a pocket having side walls, and the arresting means comprises flexible members having an arresting position in which they are bowed to project outwardly from the side walls and toward each other to provide a form-supporting ledge within the pocket,'and an ineffective position in which they are unstressed and extend substantially flush with the side walls.

5. A stacking device comprising means defining a pocket in which forms are stackable on edge, means for advancing the forms in a prescribed path toward the pocket, a stationary ledge extending parallel to a portion of said path, means for diverting forms downwardly from the path onto the ledge to cause the ledge to momentarily ,forms are of different sizes, and the arresting members .When in extended position extendclose enough toward support one longitudinal edge of the form as the opposite edge normally free ,falls in an arc, a pair of arresting members having extended positions in which they project are withdrawn toward their respective walls so as to be ineffective to arrest descent of the forms, and means for controlling operation of thearrestin-g members to their said positions.

6. The combination according to claim 5, wherein the each other to provide a support for the larger size forms but not for small forms,-whereby with the arresting members in extended position, the larger size forms Will be arrested and support all small forms subsequently deposited thereon until the arresting members are operated to their retracted positions and permit all forms to continue their descent in unison in a controlled manner for stacking on edge.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

